Instrument for measuring leather, &amp;c.



J. ROBERTSON &: J. S. DELANEY.

' INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING LEATHER, 8w. APPLICATION I'ILIID mm: 15.19am

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"PATENTED OUT. 23, 11906.

' UNITED STATES PATENT; orrron. I 4

JAMES ROBERTSON, or WOBURN, AND JOHN s. DELANEY, or .so E vILLE. MASSACHUSETTS.

INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING LEATHEBQALO.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed June 16, 1906. Serial No. 321.885.

Patented Oct. 23, 1906.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JAMES RoBnRrsoN,

. residing in Woburn, and JOHN S, DELANEY,

residing in Somerville, in the county of Mid dlesex and State of Massachusetts, citizens of the United States,-have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Instruments for Measuring Leather and other Sheet Ma'terial,-of which the following is a specification. I 1

This invention relates to an improved instrument or gage which is constructed and adapted, for ascertaining the thickness of leather and other sheet material and for indicatingthenumber of ounces to a square foot on a suitable scale.

' The invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherebya gage of this character is produced which is exceedingly simple, accurate, and not liable to get out of repair or to become easily injured or rendered inaccurate by ordinary use.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of our improved instrument with a piece of leather applied for the purpose of measuring its thickness. Fig. 2 is a plan or top view of the same. Fig. 3 is an end elevation looking toward the right. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail in rear elevation.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

a represents a vertical plate or frame, preferably a casting, provided at its rear end with a shank b, which extends into a suitable handle 0. This casting is formed into stationary or rigid jaws d and 6, whose inner edges are provided with flanges f. The upper jaw d is broadened at its outer end at g and formed at that point with an upturned vertical support h, which sustains at its upper end one end of a curved indicating-plate 7c, containing a scale Z, said scale indicating in the present instance one ounce to a square foot of leather one sixty-fourth of an inch thick. The rear endof the curved plate 7c is rigidly secured to the upper jaw d, and it is centrally stiffened by means of a brace m, ex tending from said upper jaw. All the parts a, I), d, e,f, g, h, and m are integral and of a single casting.

The front or outer end of the portion 9 is provided with an opening or slot 1, which extends from the point indicated in Fig. 3 in the vertical portion of the part 9 to the point in the horizontal portion of the said part indicated by the dotted line 0 in Fig. 1. Pivotally secured in said slot, by means of a pin i, is j the upper end or hub 19 of a curved foot-piece r, and integral with said hub and foot-piece is a pointer s, which extends up therefrom and is adapted to be swung in a vertical plane. The upper end of the pointer is provided with anind'ex or finger t, which extends over the sca1e*Z,"-=and the pivot 01 is so located that as the curved foot-piece isswung forward and upward the finger of the pointer will swing close to the scale on the plate is and on an arc of a circle which is concentric with the are described by said plate.

A rib r is integral with the foot-piece 1", hub p, and pointer s and is perforated to receive the bent end of a rod or wire u, which extends through a vertically-elongated slot v in the foot-piece r and a similar slot (indicated by broken .lines to in Fig. l) in the flange f and has its opposite end secured to the lower arm 00 of a bent elbow-lever, comprising said arm a: and a thumb or finger 8o piece at and pivotally secured at to the rear or inner end of the jaw d, integral with the thumb-piece an, and extending therefrom on the opposite or rear side of the plate a (see Fig. 4) is an army, provided on its upper edge with notches y whereby said notched arm is connected by a spring 2 with a suitable stud z extending, from the lower portion of the plate a and holding the thumb-piece normally raised. Integral with the upright por- 0 tion it and on its rear or inner surface is a verticalrib or guard h which is made broader than the thickness of the pointer s for the purpose below described.

In operation when the thickness of a piece of leather or sheet material is to be measured the thumb-piece 0c is pressed down, swinging forward the arm 00, and by means of the rod or wire a swinging upward the curved foot-piece r on the arc of a circle of roowhich the pivot i is the center, such are being eccentric with the arc described by the shape of the foot-piece. The sheet material is then inserted, as shown in thedrawings, and. the footiece dropped upon it and held in posi- 1 5 tion y the spring 2, and the thickness of the material is indicated bythe pointer s. The breadth and the curved shape of the footpiece prevent it'fro'm indenting the leather when it swings down with its eccentric move ment, and the measurement is thereby rendered exact. The fact that the foot-piece and the pointer are integral, or at least rigidly joined together, tends to enable the device to retain its accuracy. As it is convenient to hang up the instrument when it is not in use by catching it over a nail or hook, which would project through the space bounded by the upright 7t, brace m, and curved plate 7:, the above-described rib or guard 72. is formed on the rear or inner surface of the portion h and is made thick enough to extend beyond the pointer s when the device is not in use. By this means when the instrument is hung up the pointer will be kept by said rib out of contact with the nail or hook on which it hangs, and thus be prevented from being illjured or bent. In measuring sheets of hard or soft material, such as hard leather and metal or soft leather and felt, it is desirable that the pressure of the foot-piece should be adjusted so that there will be less pressure on a soft material than on a hard material, inasmuch as it is of course necessary that the foot-piece should not be forced with sufiicient pressure against a sheet of soft material, such as felt, to sink into it or indent it. The pressure therefore may be regulated by moving the upper end of the s ring 2 into the notches at a greater or less distance from the pivot j.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an instrument for measuring sheet material, a frame provided with rigid jaws between which the material is to be inserted, a curved foot-piece eccentrically pivoted to the upper jaw and extending normally toward the lower jaw, a curved plate provided with a scale supported by the frame, apointer rigid or integral with the foot-piece and serving as an indicator for the scale, means for pressing the foot-piece against a sheet of material placed between it and the lower jaw, and means for regulating such pressure of the footiece.

2. n an instrument for measuring sheet material, a frame provided with rigid jaws between which the material is to be inserted, a curved foot-piece eccentrically pivoted to the upper jaw and extending normally toward the lower jaw, a curved plate provided with a scale supported by the frame, a pointer rigid or integral with the foot-piece and serving as an indicator for the scale, an elbow-lever pivotally connected with the frame, a link or rod pivotally connecting one arm of the elbow-lever with the foot-piece at a point which is between the curved portion of the footpiece and its pivot, and means intermediate of said elbow-lever and the frame for holding the footpiece normally down toward the lower jaw.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES ROBERTSON. JOHN S. DELANEY. Witnesses:

HENRY W. WILLIAMS, A. K. Hoon. 

